Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

“You did the right thing,” Greldo said, in between devouring enough food that even Irwin was wondering where exactly he was putting it.

“So you’ve told me,” he said, leaning back with a weary sigh. “It still feels… wrong.”

Greldo wiped his mouth, then looked up, raising an eyebrow.

“If you’d come across these nasty fools in the midst of attacking a low-rank world, doing what they were, what would you have done?”

Irwin sighed. “Killed them all.”

Greldo spread his hands in an exactly what I mean gesture before reaching out and squeezing his shoulder.

“I know it's different if they can’t fight back, but you are growing pretty strong. You will have to deal with the fact that, at some point, a lot of the bad guys can’t properly fight back. Anyway, how are the smiths doing?”

Irwin grimaced as he thought of the smiths that were spread out across the rooms. There were fourteen of them, twelve of which were Viridian, the last two being human-like, and all were underfed and covered in old wounds. Worse was the mental damage they had, knowing their small outpost world had been destroyed, barely anyone left alive. The fact that they were now en route to some mysterious place they weren’t allowed to know, with the only option staying on Sesnanser if that place was even back up and running, didn’t help in the least.

“They are resting, and their wounds are slowly healing. I’m pretty sure that most of them will come with us,” he said.

“Good,” Greldo said. “We can use all the smiths we can get back home.”

Irwin nodded, feeling slightly better. Even then, the memory of destroying the ship filled with raiders would probably stay with him for a long time.

“Anyway, you are back to normal again?” he asked, forcing both selves on something else.

Greldo nodded as he swallowed a mouthful of stew that Boohm had whipped up.

“Yes, which reminds me- exactly how are you able to bring that many beings along in your soulscape without any negative effects?”

“Because his soulscape is way bigger and has far denser soulforce than yours does,” Ambraz said, landing on the table. “Also, he has half a heartcard dedicated to soulforce that keeps it stable.”

Irwin saw Greldo quietly ponder what he’d heard before turning to Irwin.

“I was wondering. My first soulcard is ruby-ranked, and I know the limits of my soulscape, but yours is still growing, and from what I hear, I can still slot higher than ruby-rank handcards and get a higher-than-ruby heartcard after. So, what exactly does it matter if a soulcard is lower than another?”

Irwin grimaced. “So, the biggest difference is the number of soulcards your soulscape can house. This is partially dependent on the size, but the difference in size from, say, amethyst to topaz is enormous. It’s not just adding a bit, but the sizes get multiplied by the rank, though there’s the base size you have to account for and-”

Irwin stopped as he saw Greldo blink at him stupidly.

“Alright, look at it like this,” he said. “Let's say a quartz-ranked heartcard will give a soulscape of a hundred feet, which is tiny. An amethyst soulscape will be about four times the size of that, at roughly four hundred feet, which is the biggest comparative jump. Still following?”

Greldo nodded, grabbing a second bowl and continuing to eat.

“So, topaz is a bit more than twice the size of an amethyst one, at nine hundred feet, and then you get emerald at sixteen hundred. Each size step up isn’t as much, but as you continue, you get very far.”

Greldo swallowed, eyes narrow. “Okay, so although the difference between each rank grows smaller, the absolute size increase is enormous.”

“Exactly,” Irwin said, happy to be able to talk about the intricacies of smithing. He hadn’t had a lot of time since leaving the academy, and although he could talk with the other smiths, they had all been busy.

“Now, if you add a card that adds to the size, it is always a percentage based on what you have,” he continued. “So if you would add the exact same card as someone with an emerald rank soulcard, your soulscape would grow more than theirs would.”

“Right, but wouldn’t the soulscape grow with a second soulcard?” Greldo asked, spraying a bit of food across the table.

Irwin ignored it as he shook his head. “No. Unless you have effects on the heartcard that will increase your soulforce or soulscape, it won't matter. Your soulscape is unlocked with the first card. The only thing it would do would be to increase the time between uses of the higher card because it will take your soulscape longer to refill it.”

“And the size determines the amount of soulcards you can have?” Greldo said, finishing the final bowl and pushing it away. “So, what if someone with a topaz ranked soulcard focused on only getting more cards that boost their soulscape? Would there be a point where it would increase in size enough to hold more soulcards?”

Irwin leaned back, mouth open, as he realized what Greldo was talking about.

“Ambraz?” he asked.

The Ganvil let out a weary chuckle. “Yes, it's possible to increase the capacity for soulcards by doing this,” he said. “But before you two brats go all stary-eyed, imagining having a hundred soulcards, it won’t increase your soulscape rank. Except for that crazy idea Irwin has, I don’t think there’s any way to do that.”

“Wait, what crazy idea?” Greldo asked, sounding interested.

“He wants to destabilize or shatter someone’s soulcard, then repair and reshape it,” Ambraz said.

Irwin had the feeling that if Ambraz had a head, he’d be shaking it ruefully. At the same time, he wondered why Greldo was so curious about this. Was he unhappy being at ruby rank and looking for a way to increase?”

“That sounds stupid and dangerous,” Greldo exclaimed. “Are you sure that’s something you should even be thinking about?”

Irwin shrugged. “It would probably only work with people that have only one soulcard, and they would still need to have a lot of handslots open.”

“Not necessarily,” a voice said from near the door.

Irwin blinked as he looked back to see Esther standing there, her large frame blocking half of the massive doorway.

“Sorry, captain, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” she said. “But I think I see what you are thinking about. It's just like how you helped Hind, right?”

Irwin looked at her in surprise.

“I was curious, so Dahlia and I spoke with her a few times, trying to figure out how you had done what you did,” Esther said as she walked inside and sat down at the table. “Although I won’t pretend to even know how you managed to control all of that, I think if you can destabilize just the first soulcard enough for it to be close to shattering, you might be able to reform it by reforging the heartcard, dropping the things that cause the imbalance, and merging it into the other soulcard.”

“You can’t merge a heartcard into a soulcard,” Irwin said, shaking his head with a frown.

“Exactly,” Ambraz agreed.

“I think you could if you intentionally fail while forging it,” Esther said.

Irwin opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“That… that….” Ambraz said before he flew up and began blurring through the galley. “That's brilliant! If you stop halfway and the soulcard has enough cracks, you could force the heartcard's burgeoning soulforce into it and start reforging it… as a soulcard no less!”

Ambraz’s last words were so loud everything in the galley rattled. The Ganvil didn’t seem to notice as he rushed to Irwin.

“Kid, we should find a way to attempt this!”

“On who?” Irwin asked, waving around. “First of all, we don’t have anyone here that qualifies, and second, if we fail, we could blow them up.”

Ambraz seemed to deflate.

“When we return home, we might be able to find some people who would be willing,” Greldo said. “Not that I really understand all of that besides the fact that it could potentially make people more powerful and is very dangerous.”

Irwin nodded while a quick thought flitted through his mind. He could have used those raiders if he hadn’t- He shoved the idea away with a shiver.

I’m not experimenting with others like that; he decided for himself.

Still, as his mainself chatted with Greldo about some of the details of what had happened, with Esther occasionally asking a question, his otherself couldn’t help but wonder how he could test this. His mind zoned out as the idea kept playing through it when an idea came to him.

“Ambraz, could I use my own soulforce in my soulscape to create a card?” he asked.

“You can’t, but I might be able to,” Ambraz responded.

Irwin hesitated, then switched his selves, letting his otherself handle the chat with Greldo and Esther while his mainself moved into his soulscape.

“Could we create a card here?” he asked, staring at Ambraz.

“A fake card? No, those are way too difficult. Reforging a card, even a quartz one, means changing what's already there. It would be like you trying to imagine your soulstrum guitar, then at the same playing on it and having to take into account every little thing the imaginary guitar would need to do.”

Irwin frowned, then pointed at the distant flattened area beside the mountain and lake where the piano was standing. “But you made that?”

“I did, but it's not fake. It’s real inside your soulscape,” Ambraz said.

“So, could we make a card inside here?” Irwin asked, very excited suddenly.

“The difference in difficulty is staggering, and I’m not able to do that,” Ambraz said, somewhat apologeticly. “Perhaps after I become a world anvil?”

Irwin sighed, prodding at his soulforce as it flowed around him. He could move it and reshape it with ease, but he instinctively knew he couldn’t reshape into anything than something resembling one of his own cards. He’d tried shortly after he’d come up with the idea to create handcards from ambient soulforce.

I wonder if I could recreate one of my original cards, he thought as he absently fiddled with the soulforce, forming it into the shape of a card that resembled his Coperion Body card.

“Do you remember the exact resonance of my original cards?” he asked.

“No,” Ambraz said, humming thoroughly. “Though I see what you are getting at. If you could have recorded it, perhaps you could have remade it here. It wouldn’t be a real card, but perhaps it would allow you to practice with it.”

“Perhaps I could try it with my heartcard?” Irwin said, looking at where it was hovering above his soullake.

“Don’t even bother. It would require almost as much soulforce as your soulscape currently has, and that could cause it to become imbalanced,” Ambraz said.

“I can imbalance a soulscape in that way?” Irwin asked, surprised.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Yes, but not like what you are thinking now. Imbalancing a soulcard isn’t the same as imbalancing your soulscape. If you do the latter, you could potentially rupture your soulscape barriers and cause it to implode, killing you and everyone inside instantly.”

Irwin grimaced, quickly dropping the idea.

“Alright, as soon as we finish this soulcard and start collecting the next cards, we need to record their resonances,” he said. “Then, after I slot them, we can try to recreate them here and experiment.”

Ambraz flitted around excitedly. “We should go and locate a library entrance sometime soon and find out if anyone else ever attempted this.”

Irwin froze, then cursed.

“What?” Greldo asked.

Irwin looked up, realizing both of his selves had cursed at the same time, and he shrugged as he looked at Greldo and Esther.

“I just remembered that Daubutim had asked me to get him books and information on some subjects,” he said. “I totally forgot about it, and the chances of it are now zero, as the nearest one would be on Fiverio.”

“Hah, I’m sure he will forgive you for everything you are bringing already,” Greldo said. “Now, I’m going to go outside while I still can. When are we moving through the next storm?”

“As soon as we reach it, which should be soon,” Irwin said. “Maybe an hour?”

Greldo rose, bringing his bowls into the kitchen area.

Irwin hesitated, then followed his friend on deck, where he found Hind talking with Boohm, both waving their hands around. Their voices were loud enough for even him to hear something about homeworlds, though he wasn’t too sure about the details.

“What are they on about?” he asked Greldo as he followed him to the railing.

“Apparently, Hind’s homeworld used to be connected to Igniz, but it became unstable, and they had to close the portal. After that, many of her people moved to Ingiz and to Boohm’s homeworld,” Greldo said as he leaned on the railing. “Hind is asking him questions about his world and how many of her people are there, but Boohm says they disappeared into the planet’s core and nobody-”

Irwin quietly listened as Greldo listened to the others and told him the short of it.

He saw the distant dark storm closing in, and he knew that meant they were going to have to get ready.

"Alright, I’ll get Sibil so we can start scouting,” Greldo said.

Before Irwin could respond, his friend vanished. With a snort, he walked to Earila and took over from her.

“Go and get some rest,” he said. “You did great.”

“Thanks, captain,” Earila said, yawning and smiling at the same time.

Irwin waited till she was in the room before he looked around the deck. Boohm and Hind were still chatting while Seleen had joined them. Zender was still in the sails, scrubbing away, while Montain was probably below deck with the wounded smiths. He’d shown a surprising level of care and empathy for them, talking with them softly to help them work through the horrors they had been subject to. At the thought of that, Irwin felt the lingering doubt about what he’d done to the remaining raiders vanish.

They would have done the same to Giard if they had found it, he thought.

Sibil returned soon, shaking her head.

“It’s too far for me. Greldo continued on ahead,” she said worriedly.

“Okay, then we wait,” Irwin said, noticing that she wanted to say or ask something. “What is it?”

“I… How strong is Greldo?” Sibil asked. “I’ve only seen Nyzir Dark Princes move through the shadows that fast and with such a massive trail.”

Nyzir Dark Princes? Irwin thought, wondering if those were as bad as they sounded.

“You will have to ask him yourself someday,” he said.

“Yes, Captain,” Sibil whispered.

They waited for a long time until Greldo finally returned, and from his frown, Irwin knew he was going to get some bad news.

“The cracked corridor goes on for a very long time, and at our speed, it will take days,” Greldo said. “Worse, there are a few parts which are worse than what we have seen. Nothing big enough to get blown out, but it's going to be harsh.”

Irwin sighed. “But there’s a safe area beyond?”

“Yes, it looks like the corridor beyond is completely intact. Coal did see movement in the darkness beyond.”

Irwin hesitated, then focused on Hou’dor.

“Are you ready again?”

“We are ready, but if it's as long as he said, we are going to need to conserve more energy,” Hou’dor rumbled. "That means you will have it worse.”

Of course I will, Irwin thought. "Everyone below deck, I’m taking us back into the storm!”

“Yes, Captain,” came a chorus, and a moment later, the deck was empty, save for Irwin and the rank five Ganvils.

Irwin stared at the incoming storm, a dark swirling mass of clouds, energy bolts, and crackling lightning that ravaged the corridor.

“Hou’dor, if you find a place that is relatively calm and where you can rest, let me know, and I’ll try to keep the ship hanging there,” Irwin said.

“Will do, but even if it's a week, we can hold out. You just need to mind yourself.”

“Don’t worry,” Irwin said as he cracked his neck. “I’ll be fine.”

Working the runes, he made the ship continue ahead and into the massive storm.

--

Sibil held the table as she felt the ship rock and sway, sometimes dipping a foot down or to the left. Her stomach was a roiling mess, and she wondered how the others could just sit and eat.

Are they not worried? She thought. It's been four days!

Focusing on her plate and trying to keep in the food, she knew she’d have to go back out into the shadows soon. She and Greldo were alternating being there and keeping an eye on the Captain, though multiple of Greldo’s massive shadow summons were there all the time.

“-of the Viridians are going to need a mental healer when we return,” Montain said, looking at Esther and Dahlia. “Three of them have still not come out of their catatonic state.”

“There are enough of those back home,” Zender said from where he was softly chatting with his sister.

Sibil glanced at the two Yuurindi, still finding it difficult to believe there were two on the ship. Although she didn’t mind as much as many others, due to how many thought badly of shadowwalkers, she couldn’t ignore the fact that Yuurindi were a rarity on the more central worlds of the Langost branch. Especially such young ones.

“I can’t wait till we get there,” Boohm said from the kitchen.

“I still can’t believe none of you have been there,” Hind said, echoing Sibil’s thoughts. “You’ve been with the captain for over a year now?”

“Longer,” Boohm said. “But we joined at the start of his journey, so it makes sense, right?”

What, that they still haven’t even told you what this mystery place is they keep gushing about? Sibil thought.

Greldo appeared in the middle of the galley, causing everyone to fall quiet.

“How is he doing?” Hind asked.

“Him? Better than most of us,” Greldo said, yawning. “I told you, right? His first card boosted his endurance to absurd levels. He might need a long nap when we are finally out, and he could probably use another of those meat skewers, Boohm!”

“I've got three ready here,” the Onyxian said as he walked from the kitchen, carrying three arm-length skewers of gleaming metal, steaming meat dripping from them.

“Alright, I’ll get those to him, then you’re up,” Greldo said, turning to Sibil.

She nodded, and when Greldo vanished, she sighed.

“You okay, kiddo?” Boohm asked as he walked to her, holding a plate filled with snacks which he held out.

Sibil grabbed something she recognized.

“I’m fine, just a bit sick and tired of the ship moving around as if someone is shaking it,” she muttered before quickly finishing the snack.

“You’ll get used to it,” Boohm shouted as he walked to the others.

Greldo reappeared a few minutes later, waving at her. Sibil took a deep breath, then stepped into the shadows. It took her only a few moments to reappear back on deck and then another few to move towards the captain.

Irwin was covered in a thin sheet of golden-red fire, taking bites out of the skewers that he’d somehow lodged into the center of the steering wheel. The rain constantly pelting him was probably hissing, but she couldn’t hear it over the constant howling and roaring of the storm. One look told her she wouldn’t have trusted herself to helm the ship- the corridor’s walls were covered in holes, and she could barely see anything further than a few hundred feet, even while in the shadows. She had no idea how the Captain could see anything at all, but as she watched, his hands smoothly and almost mechanically kept adjusting the course of the ship.

A large shape hung in the shadows to the side, Coal or one of his clones she knew.

Seeing nothing wrong, she looked around, knowing it was going to be a long, tiresome watch.

--

Irwin felt The Concerto’s deck dip and roll left and acted before he could even think about it, turning the wheel, changing the speed, and quickly bringing the ship back on course.

Days had passed, six, though he wasn’t sure. He’d lost track of time long ago. The only holdout he had was when Greldo brought him food- twice a day, and if he had counted properly, that had happened eleven times?

He was nearly deafened from the storm, his head pounding from the constant thunder and flashing light and his body aching from nonstop usage.

All that said, he was happy.

They were heading home, and in a month at most, he would see his family again!

I wonder how big Drum is now, he thought.

The ship fell a few feet while a crackling bolt of red energy painted the storm on the left in a gray, black, and red hue, and Irwin changed course and speed as he saw something move. A massive shape illuminated by the bolt’s light that seemed to be moving alongside them.

A flash came from the side, and he turned to see Greldo appear beside Coal. He held on to the massive hound while pointing in the direction Irwin had been looking. Greldo's eyes were wide, his face pale, and his muted scream was barely audible.

“Incoming!”

Greldo vanished while Irwin felt his heartbeat skyrocket. Adrenaline burned away his fear as he flared his fire hotter and wider, trying to see into the pitch-black storm. Moments ticked by as his hands meticulously kept the ship on course, then another crackling red energy caused the entire left of the corridor to gleam.

An eye the size of The Concerto’s sail, gleaming black even against the surrounding darkness, stared at him. Three white pupils shrank as they focused on him, and the barrier suddenly shuddered and glowed a bright blue light as something struck it. A tapered shape with six long tentacles became visible, each as long as The Concerto.

It's like a tiny version of an Oculithar, Irwin thought as he looked around, his mind trying to come up with a solution.

“We are twenty minutes from the calm area!” Greldo screamed as he appeared a few steps away, eyes locked on the monster that was relentlessly bashing on the shuddering barrier.

“Dammit,” Irwin roared. “Hou’dor, how much stronger can you make the barrier?”

“Not that strong,” Hou’dor roared back.

Still, Irwin felt the ship stabilize enormously, the wind and rain suddenly dying down as the barrier around The Concerto turned a shimmering silver. Within moments, the temperature rocketed due to Irwin’s roaring flame, and he quickly dismissed it.

“We can hold it like this for about half an hour, but we will need to rest for a week after we are out,” Hou’dor rumbled.

Irwin gazed at the monster, then at the wheel, sensing the way the ship was jolting about and made a decision.

“Earila, come take the helm!” he shouted, knowing his voice would be audible below deck.

The door opened faster than he expected, and Earila, Boohm, Ester, and the others stormed on deck. As soon as they caught sight of the massive monster, they stopped. Hind was the first to snap out of it, grabbing Earila and dragging her to Irwin.

“Take the helm! It's still somewhat shaky, but you should be fine,” Irwin said.

“Yes, Captain,” Earila croaked as half a dozen of her Faerit appeared around her, floating while looking at the massive monster with glinting eyes.

Irwin ran to the others just as one of the tentacles struck the barrier and shattered parts of it. It began struggling through, held back by what remained.

Boohm let out a muttered curse, stepped forward, and raised his hands; palms pointed at each other. A ball of shimmering black and silver between them, and his muscles bulged as he began pressing his hands together, causing ripples of silvery energy to arc out like tiny lightning. Within moments, a crackling sound came from the energy ball, then Boohm clasped the backs of his hands together, causing the ball to turn into a long beam of silvery black light that rippled through their barrier, the air, and collided with the incoming tentacle.

A small hole appeared on it, barely more than a pockmark on the massive thing, and the monster didn’t react, still struggling to get the tentacle through.

Irwin hesitated, then stepped back and clapped his hands, the kinetic energy in his body building rapidly. As soon as he had enough, he summoned a hammer and aimed it at the tentacle. As he let go, he focused both his minds on propelling it forward with the buildup of kinetic energy, wrapping it in fire, and resizing it to its maximum size. As he felt it leave his fingertips, he was stunned at how much bigger it was than he remembered.

A hammer the size of a small cabin, coated in a swirling mass of golden-red fire, exploded from his hand with the sound of a thunderclap. It pierced the barrier and the storm beyond before striking the tentacle. The impact of the comparatively small object seemed to only dent the flesh, which also bounced back instantly, but the fire burned a small crater before extinguishing.

There was no response from the monster as the tip of the tentacle pierced into the corridor, the rest slowly coming in after.

“Any ideas?” Irwin asked, looking around hopefully.

“If that doesn’t work…” Montain muttered.

“Can we go faster?” Hind snapped, causing everyone to look at Irwin, hopefully.

“This is the fastest we can go unless we want to blow up the sails,” Irwin said, talking fast. “And if we do that, we will be left stranded.”

“Not completely-” Ambraz said, sounding distracted. “Not that it's a good idea, as we can’t replace the sails even in the light storm beyond this part. But…perhaps…”

Irwin focused on the tiny Ganvil that had returned to his shoulder, knowing his companion had an idea.

“Ambraz?” he said, pointing at the tentacle, which would probably rip the remaining barrier apart and start attacking them at any moment. “If you have an idea-”

“Alright,” Ambraz snapped as he flew away, then landed in his working shape. ”We need to reforge cards! Nava’malder, get the others up here and start reforging!”

Irwin’s mind stalled for a moment, wondering if Ambraz had gone insane. It took a moment before he caught up and realized what the Ganvil wanted.

“That might work! Hou’dor keep that barrier as strong as you can. If it hits us, just use whatever power you have, but block it!” Irwin rattled as he ripped cards from his pocket, noting they were those Greldo had handed to him. Taking the top topaz one, he put it on Ambraz, ignoring the rushed shouting and muffled thuds at multiple other Ganvils that began appearing all over the deck.

His smallself moved to his soulscape and began strumming the soulstrum guitar while his mainself got his hammer out.

“What are we doing?” he asked Ambraz.

“As difficult as you can, just don’t fail! Go wild!”

Irwin blinked and took a look over his shoulder to see the tentacle force its way through the barrier, ripping whole chunks of it apart.

Go wild? he thought, focusing on the card and sensing the detailed hum. I can do that.

Without holding back, he slammed his hammer into the card as his other self began playing the loudest, wildest song he knew.